DISCOVERING CREMONA, THE ITALIAN CAPITAL OF VIOLIN, “TORRAZZO” AND NOUGAT!
Cremona is a charming town of Lombardia, right in the middle of the Po valley, on the north bank of the river Po. It is surrounded by farmland rich in waters.
The interesting buildings that can be admired during our guided tour in the historical centre witness the long history of Cremona, founded by the Romans. The main sight is the spectacular Square of the Cathedral, a medieval complex of buildings which were partially transformed during the Renaissance, the famous bell-tower called Torrazzo, with its 112 meters in height and an amazing view from the top, the medieval Town Hall and the elegant Baptistry very close to the church.
But Cremona is particularly renowned for its musical tradition: homeland of composers, such as Claudio Monteverdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, and famous violin makers, as Antonio Stradivari, the 
Amatis and the Guarneri del Gesù family, Cremona is the seat of Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria, attended by students from all over the world, who want to study and understand the secrets of the Cremonese violin makers’ school.
During our guided walk we are going to discover the streets in the town centre that bear witness the liveliness of the musical culture and the activities linked to violin making: there are over 150 workshops where stringed instruments are made, and this incredible number of workshops testifies the fact that Cremona has a unique position in the world as a point of reference in the excellence of violin making.
In 2012 the “Traditional Violin Craftsmanship in Cremona” was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
So let’s start our itinerary of guided tour that will be based mainly on this aspect of Cremona: Music.
GUIDED TOUR CREMONA HISTORICAL CENTRE (from half-day to full day)
Cathedral Square – Torrazzo – Baptistry Town Hall – Violin maker Workshop – Museum of the Violin Stradivari
Our half-a-day tour will start with a visit to the prestigious Museo del Violino, opened in September 2013 and already visited by a great number of international tourists. Here we will see the extraordinary collection of antique and modern stringed instruments and through multimedia devices, you will learn the history of Cremonese violin makers and the making of stringed instruments.
Our visit will include the Museum Auditorium, famous for its excellent acoustics, where we will hear the magic sound of some of the most famous violins in the world, as Nicolò Amati’s Hammerle, dated 1658, Antonio Stradivari’s violin, Il Cremonese, (1715) and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù’s violin dated 1734.
Later, we will visit a workshop, where the violin maker, the Master, will reveal the secrets of this ancient and learned art.
At the end of our guided tour we can reach a traditional restaurant or trattoria to taste the typical excellent food of Cremona: salami, cheese, mostarda (fruit pickles), marubini (small pasta parcels filled with a savoury filling) and the famous torrone (nougat).
